Box Score (PDF)
BATON ROUGE, La. – The University of South Alabama baseball team rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth inning to defeat No. 10 LSU 7-6 Tuesday at Alex Box Stadium.
Trailing 5-4 after eight frames, the Jaguars pushed across three runs in the top of the ninth inning to take a two-run lead. Brendan Donovan drew a leadoff walk, and advanced to second on a single back up the middle by Travis Swaggerty. A flyout to center field by Wells Davis allowed Donovan to tag from second and advance to third to put runners at the corners with one out. Matt Bolger followed with a pinch-hit RBI sacrifice bunt to first that scored Donovan, who slid under the tag at the plate, to tie the game at 5-5. LSU intentionally walked Drew LaBounty to load the bases with one out for Jared Barnes, who lifted a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Swaggerty for a 6-5 Jaguar lead. Will Luft then delivered a two-out RBI single to right field that plated Bolger with the final Jaguar run of the contest.
LSU added the game's final run in the bottom of the ninth on a two-out RBI single to left field by Cole Freeman.
USA left-hander Andy Arguelles (3-2) tossed a career-high 6 1/3 innings in relief, and allowed just four hits while striking out a career-high eight batters with no walks to earn the win. Jaguar right-hander Matt Peacock allowed one run on two hits with one strikeout in one inning pitched to record his ninth save of the season. Nick Bush (1-1) allowed three runs on one hit and issued three walks in the loss for the Tigers.
"(Andy) Arguelles was outstanding," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "He kept getting us back in and getting some momentum back in our dugout, and the guys fed off it. They (LSU) had momentum in the first two innings, and I thought Andy did a nice job of slowing it down and getting some momentum back in our dugout. Our guys kept fighting hard, and we scratched out enough to win a tight ballgame against a very good team. This was big for us tonight. We're happy to come here and get a big win on the road against LSU."
South Alabama (31-18) took a one-run lead in the top of the first inning. Dylan Hardy led off the game with a single to left field, and later scored on a two-out RBI single to right field by Travis Swaggerty for a 1-0 advantage.
LSU (32-17) answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first on a two-out, two-run home run to left field by Greg Deichmann to take a 2-1 lead.
The Tigers added to their lead in the bottom of the second on a one-out RBI single through the left side of the infield by Jake Slaughter, an RBI fielder's choice by Freeman on a grounder to second and an RBI single to center field by Antoine Duplantis for a 5-1 advantage.
The Jaguars pushed across a run in the top of the fourth to cut their deficit to three. Colton Thomas and Brendan Donovan drew consecutive walks to start the inning. A passed ball put both runners in scoring position with no outs before Swaggerty delivered a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Thomas and cut the Tiger lead to 5-2.
Jared Barnes led off the top of the fifth with a double to left-center field, and moved to third on a groundout to first by Will Luft. Thomas followed with an RBI double to right-center field to score Barnes and cut the LSU lead to 5-3.
USA cut its deficit to one run in the top of the sixth inning. Swaggerty drew a leadoff walk, and advanced to second with one out on a groundout to first by Davis. Barnes delivered a two-out RBI single back up the middle later in the inning to score Swaggerty and cut the Tiger lead to 5-4.
USA threatened when it loaded the bases in the top of the eighth, but failed to push across a run. Drew LaBounty doubled off the left field wall with one out in the inning, and Barnes followed with a walk. Dylan Hardy drew a walk to load the bases with two outs, but the Tigers escaped the jam when LSU left fielder Beau Jordan made a diving catch on a line drive down the left field line off the bat of Eddie Paparella to preserve a one-run Tiger lead before the Jaguars' three-run ninth.
Swaggerty went 2-for-2 with two RBI and two runs scored, and Barnes finished 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI and one run scored to lead the Jaguars at the plate. Kramer Robertson went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored to lead the Tigers offensively.
USA will return to action this weekend when it travels to Boone, N.C., for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series with Appalachian State.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with USAJaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at Twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Dugout Club, the baseball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. Members enjoy all games from inside the Stadium Club with climate control, private restrooms, private concessions and access to listen to the radio broadcast. All donations to the Dugout Club go directly to support the South Alabama baseball program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/dugoutclub
—USA—